Chapter 19: The Call of the Evening
Synopsis As the group nears Paris, everyone was either resting or having some fun in the arcade. Reiji and Xiaomu get everyone together to let them know they'll be arriving soon. Sakura is concerned about Ichiro, but the others assure that he'll be fine. They look outside and see the city of lights, Paris...and more golden chains. They make for the Theatre Chattes Noire, as time is of the essence. At the theatre, Erica and Ichiro manage to get the defense wall up to catch a breather before more enemies got through. While Erica is worried about Ichiro's health, Ichiro hasn't given up the fight yet. Sakura and Gemini got cut off during the fight, and said they had their own battles to fight. Just then, Pyron and several phantoms come from behind. He goes to meet them head on, but then Erica decides to stay with him till the end. And just when they were about to kiss.... THAT'S ENOUGH! A familiar voice causes them to separate, and the heroes appear on the other side. Introductions suddenly got tense as Sakura becomes "concerned" for Ichiro's safety. After getting the captain up to date with the situation at New York, and they see Pyron as well. He explains that he summoned the phantoms here and that the world is on a tipping point, and that he's taken an interest in the gold chains and where they came from. Someone is searching for something, but he won't say who. As they regroup, the defensive wall crumbles. As they wonder who will be attacking next, Ichiro gets an inkling about who's coming next. It was Ayame, or rather, Aya-me, the former Imperial Assault Force leader turned Kouma who appeared before them. It seems that the demons of New York and Phantoms of Paris weren't the only ghosts who've come back to haunt the Assault Force. She says that she is bound to this world due to the chain's influence. But then, a familiar voice is heard...the Ouma's bad bunny Sheath arrives and admits to collecting the chains in New York. Aya-Me adds that chains are searching...for their other half it seems; fragments scattered into 101 pieces. The chains were set to search for those parts, but got interrupted before revealing who the chains were leading to. Ayame is bound to the Kouma's grudge and asks Ichiro to sever the bonds between them. The heroes gained some valuable intel, but lost the gold chains...and new enemies appear. They appear to be created from the chains, but then she calls Stray Summoned Beasts. The chains create rifts, softening the dimensional walls, and allows them to summon help easily. Aty decides to try and send the enemies back using a reverse summoning.....but by mistake, she instead summons an old friend of Shinra's from the Kyuju Kyu incident, Felicia the catwoman, a Darkstalker and a famous musical star. Apparently she's in Paris for her famous musical "The World is Mine" when she suddenly got called by Aty. She was still a little miffed, but after Erica managed to convince her (while donning her Black Cat Suit), she joins them. Sheath decides to try summoning herself and calls Saya...and Xiaomu too, somehow. Saya was a little mad about the 101 parts info getting leaked, she decides to fight as well as Aya-Me calls her Kouma and Saya summons her Katanas. It started to become a summon battle, with all the enemies around them but now that the players are all assembled and the curtain rises as the battle begins for real! Aya-Me retreats from the battle after defeat, but Ayame's half said the key to releasing her lies in the heart of battle before departing. Saya gets beat down, and says that she already collected the chains from the City of Mercy, but at least they got some intel on their plan. Reiji remembers that number from a previous battle, the 101 Embryo plan. Pyron heads for the next world after defeat. Wherever he goes, the gold chains will be there. Sheath retreats from the fight after a beatdown, but the others were still concerned about the chain's power and how it was only the first step. After all the enemies were cleared, Ichiro thanked the heroes for their help. As they figure how the chains were affecting the dimensional barriers, Ichiro and Erica joins the heroes' ranks and Natsu suddenly feels some weird magic in the air. An earthquake occurs and they see what looks like a giant tree in the distance, along with more of the chains. The Great Oak Tree, once destroyed, has been replanted again as have other places and times. But when they decide to charge in with the Dragonturtle, Urashima arrives and explains that the power from the tree is disrupting the vehicle's power source. But then, Ichiro comes up with an idea. They head for the Arc de Triomphe where Ichiro and Urashima begin setting up the Revolver Cannon. After fully online, some of them were stunned by the appearance. Some of them already had a fair idea what happens next. Ichiro is going to use it to launch the party at the central part of the tree. They explain that they used it last time and the rate of falling out was low (and they still survived). After Ichiro explains about the cannon, he explains that they still have the data from the last time they used it on the tree, so it should be a smooth ride. Reiji decides they should split into 3 different capsules, and after arrangements were made Urashima prepares for firing. Party Members Pair Units (Note: only 10 pair units allowed) Ichiro & Erica *required* Ryu & Ken Chun-Li & Xiaoyu Dante & Vergil Chris & Jill Demitri & Morrigan X & Zero Hiryu & Hotsuma Akira & Kage Maru Sakura & Gemini Kiryu & Majima Zephyr & Vashyron Jin & Kazuya Ciel & Nana Kite & Haseo Reiji & Xiaomu KOS-MOS & Fiora Solo Units Ingrid Ulala Valkryie Aty Leon Heihachi Captain Commando Natsu Alisa Phoenix & Maya June Leanne Pai Axel Ryo Felicia Enemies Pyron (Gear: Hot-Hot-Hot Meteorite) Phantom Soldier (Bow) x2 Phantom Soldier (Sword) x2 Blanche x6 Aya-Me (Gear: Kouma Black Feather) Sheath (Gear: Black Bunny Suit) Phantom Summoned Beast x4 One-Five x2 One-Eight x2 Kouma Sandan x4 Katana x4 Saya (Gear: Black Bustier) Items Sandwich, Restore Pill II, Strange Coffee, Gold & Silver Revolvers Trivia Ayame Fujieda, a former officer of the Assault Force, became a Kouma after Aoi Satan implanted a Kouma seed into her. She was defeated three times: During the attack on Yamato, again when storming the Black Demon Society's HQ, and again during the events of Project X Zone. The movie debut was actually a reference to Felicia's ending in Pocket Fighter, where Ken set her up for a movie role...in a giant monster movie. The Great Oak Tree was a giant tree filled with the hatred of the Parisii civilization. The Paris Assault Force managed to stop it by destroying it's core and purifying the evil spirits within. The Revolver Cannon was used during Project X Zone to launch the party to the floating Tower of Tarqaron, and in SW3, it was used to shoot the F2 Kobus into the tree's core. In the case of PXZ, only eight fell out (but still managed to reach the tower just fine) Category:PXZ2 Chapter